Three-dimensional (or stereoscopic) television (3DTV) is a recent development for digital video and presents a growth opportunity for service providers. Some predict that consumers will one day demand 3DTV as an expected option for a premium TV viewing experience. Stereoscopic video generally creates a three-dimensional illusion by using a pair of synchronized two-dimensional videos (e.g., a separate set of images for a left eye and a right eye) that a user can view with special lenses. Thus, for a broadband or broadcast environment, 3DTV programming may require double the bandwidth of similar quality two-dimensional programming.
Bandwidth requirements to support full high-definition (HD) resolution for 3DTV defined by, for example, the Blu-ray Disc Association include video with up to 1920×1080 progressive scan at 24 frames per second for each eye, or 1280×720 progressive scan at up to 59.94 frames per second for each eye. Eventually, even higher video quality will be expected, which will consume even greater bandwidth. For example, video qualities of 1920×1080 progressive scan at 60 frames per second×2 images (employing capped variable bit-rate (VBR) and Multiview Video Coding (MVC)) can be in the order of 25-35 Mbps for a single streaming session. These high bandwidth requirements present a challenge for service providers to support delivery of full HD resolution 3DTV to consumers in, for example, a video-on-demand (VOD) environment.